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Scotland has a habit of throwing up bands like the Endrick Brothers; honest-to-goodness rockers from Stirlingshire, they produce rootsy Americana with more than a passing nod to the likes of del Amitri. No, don't stop reading. There's nothing wrong with liking del Amitri, and certainly nothing wrong with the kind of decent, well thought-out stuff that five lads produce. Choppy guitars, Teenage Fanclub-like harmonising, loads of twelve-string guitar propelling each song skywards - what else could you ask for? The Endrick Brothers - sorry lads, but that's hardly the most memorable name for a group, is it? - have already opened for Grand Drive, Lucinda Williams, Kelly Joe Phelps and Jessie Malin, so you know where they're coming from, and have been a semi-permanent fixture on BBC Radio Scotland, XFM and Beat 106. That experience has given them a widescreen, epic quality that is both refreshing and memorable. Waking Up and its successor track, The Outside, hold the album together. Seven Long Years adds swelling organ to give the song another dimension and takes us almost into Blue Rodeo territory while title track describes how the Endrick Brothers hope they can stay the course. With strong material like this, there's no reason why they shouldn't carve out their own little niche.

John Stacey
November-December 2004

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